


Wait

by otayuri_oh_nice



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Aged-Up Otabek Altin, Aged-Up Yuri Plisetsky, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Astronauts, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, International Space Station, M/M, Rating May Change, Science, Slow Burn, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-15 08:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11802099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otayuri_oh_nice/pseuds/otayuri_oh_nice
Summary: Yuri imagined what the first thing would be he would say aboard the ISS, thought of a million witty sentences and jokes, yet once the moment finally came so many years later, he didn’t say any of it.“Beka?”- or: When cosmonauts Plisetsky and Altin stay behind as the only crew members on board of the ISS and the communication with Earth fails, the two have to figure out what to do, how to stay calm and sane, as well as navigate their old feelings for each other surfacing again.- aka the Otayuri Astronauts AU exactly one person wanted and I simply had to make happen.





	1. Chapter 1

Taking a deep breath Yuri slowly closed his eyes, his body relaxing, while a female voice counted down—четыре, три, два, один—mercilessly. His eyes flew open as everything began to shake violently, the sound as loud as a million thunders rolling over them at once, fear mixing with adrenaline, nervousness and excitement. He'd waited so long for this, worked his ass off to get here, and finally it was happening.

 _The sky is the limit_ , those were the words Yuri lived by ever since he was a kid sitting in his grandpa's backyard looking up at the night sky littered with stars. There was something about it, the promise of endlessness, freedom and the unknown that fascinated him, pulled him in and refused to let him go. At age nine Yuri got his first telescope, his most treasured possession for years, his eyes glued to it, the possibilities infinite, the sky waiting for him to see and explore it. Soon he knew every constellation, every star on the sky above Moscow, knew the phases of the Moon in explicit detail and even spotted Mars and Venus far off in the distance, his telescope not strong enough to see them clearly.

In school teachers asked his class what they wanted to be when they grow up. Most of Yuri’s classmates didn't have an answer, most never even graduated, some of them ending up in juvenile detention and later on prison, a few girls pregnant, and one of them dead at seventeen because of an overdose. But Yuri was different. Ever since that night in the backyard he had a clear goal.

Yuri wanted to become a cosmonaut just like Yuri Gagarin, the man after whom he was named.

Grandpa always told him that he was a smart kid, that he could accomplish anything he set his mind on, that one day he would reach his goal and float in space like he always dreamed he would. Most days it was easy to believe that, on others less so. When his father left it hurt like a bitch but he tried his best not to let it get him down too much, hold on to his dreams even after papa reminded him that he would never make it, that he would never be smart or strong enough. Thankfully his mother and grandpa were always there for him, reminded him that one day he would make them all proud.

Strapped into his seat there wasn’t much Yuri could do besides keeping his eyes on the monitors and controls, mission control checking in every few seconds, voices talking over each other making sure everything was okay and going exactly as planned. Victor talked back to them with a calm voice, the living legend and pride of the Russian Space program. He was a genius sitting inside the Soyuz with Yuri and their Canadian colleague, JJ Leroy, on his way for his third visit to the ISS.

When Yuri heard he would get the chance to not only go to the ISS, a dream come true in and of itself, but also share a ship with Victor, he’d been overjoyed. Anyone at Roscosmos working and hoping to be picked out for expeditions like this wished to be exactly where Yuri was in that moment, yet out of all of them, Yuri was the one they’d chosen.

Quickly Yuri came to realize that below the usually so professional demeanor, this air of class and poise, Victor really was nothing more than a dork and loved his family to a point that crossed the line of annoying in mere seconds. Within weeks Yuri probably knew more about former Japanese astronaut Katsuki Yuuri, their children and dog Makkachin, than he’d ever wanted, though he’d enjoyed hearing about Yuuri since he’d been one of his idols for a while. Victor wasn’t anything like Yuri had imagined him, which wasn’t exactly disappointing since Yuri wasn’t always as focused and controlled as he appeared during simulations, preparations and training either, was rather loud and the first to voice his true opinion, but it certainly had burst a bubble in Yuri’s mind. But that fact helped in its own way, took away this feeling of blind respect and star struck awe within Yuri making working alongside Victor much easier, their dynamic turning more into that of equal colleagues instead of a legend and just another cosmonaut.

For a moment Yuri felt blind as the outside shutters fell away from the two windows letting in the light and allowing them to look outside. They’d been lucky enough that their start was in the early morning hours instead of at night, which meant they could spare a few glances outside and see Earth grow further and further away.

They’d practiced the journey to the ISS what felt like a million times until they could do it as though on autopilot, ready for any and all emergencies, which meant that Yuri didn’t feel scared at all. The first times he climbed into the Soyuz for practice what felt like a hundred years ago, he’d almost panicked. The capsule was small and tight, his legs secured at an almost uncomfortable angled, his body tightly strapped into his seat, the only parts of him that could move were his head and his arms, just enough so he could intervene should something go wrong. Yuri wasn’t afraid of small spaces, of course he wasn’t otherwise he’d never get even near space, yet it had still scared him endlessly. Now sitting in the real deal, he wasn’t afraid at all.

It was beyond exhilarating to feel the power of the rocket beneath them, the decades of intricate engineering and science working to bring them away from the Launchpad and up into space, a place that should be unreachable for humanity yet they'd manage to find a way to live in it, even if only for a little while at a time. Yuri knew how it worked, knew the chemical reactions and the inner workings of most of the parts of the rockets, he’d studied and worked on all of it for years, even more after he’d gotten his degree in engineering and chemistry, and a bachelor in mathematics simply because he could, because it was useful.

It was breathtaking and nerve wrecking in the most bizarre way, their lives depending on the engineers that built the rocket and the Soyuz capsule, the people who ran the tests beforehand to make sure everything was ready to go. They all remembered what happened to Challenger in 1986, Yuri had seen the recordings of the disaster, the rocket exploding just over a minute after launching, but despite that he wasn’t afraid that the same could happen to them. It’d been so long since anything like it happened and Yuri had faith in the brilliance of their engineers, people who devoted their lives to this just as much as Yuri himself, or any of the other astronauts and cosmonauts.

When he signed up for this, decided that this was the path he wanted to go, he’d known that death was a very real option and he’d long accepted it. Yuri was willing to risk, and possibly even give, his life to fulfill his dream and leave even the tiniest mark in human history, help further the knowledge of space travel and life in zero gravity.

But even though Yuri knew the theory behind all of it, had sat in the launch simulation what felt like at least a million times, experiencing the real thing was something completely different in every imaginable way. No amount of theory, listening to people who’d gone on this journey before him, videos and simulations, could prepare him for the true emotional side of it all. Yuri wanted to scream, not out of fear, but to give free reign to his emotions, his happiness and joy in a similar fashion as people did on roller coasters. This was everything, yet also nothing like he’d imagined it at all, it was something completely different than anything he’d ever felt before, the acceleration pushing the breath out of his lungs, his heart beating hard and fast, his hands every so lightly trembling if he let his concentration slip up.

Once they reached the right height, the rocket fell away and returned to Earth while the rest continued on into orbit and toward the ISS. Getting into orbit took a mere nine minutes, a wonder of modern technology somehow bringing everything into perspective in a way. Space had always seemed so far away, unattainable and almost like it wasn’t real, yet it didn’t even take a full ten minutes to get there, a fact Yuri still wasn’t over despite having learned it so long ago.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Victor asked at some point, his voice sounding a bit different coming through Yuri’s ear piece than it did when they’d talked before the launch. Victor’s face was turned just enough for Yuri to know what he meant.

Although Yuri had looked at the windows several times already, it wasn’t until then that he really, truly looked beyond the glass. Outside the endless black of the universe stretched around them, his eyes able to just peak at the brilliant blue of Earth’s atmosphere reminding Yuri of just how fragile and vulnerable their home really was.

Despite how beautiful the fraction of Earth was that Yuri could see from the tiny window, he knew that floating into the copula at the ISS would be an even greater moment, seeing Earth from so far away, from this space station he’d dreamed of being in since he was a little boy. At the end of the day, this wasn’t only his dream, it was also grandpa’s. He wanted to be where Yuri was during his youth, too, but an injury and the following health complications had destroyed his dreams beyond repair. He once said that knowing that Yuri would get to do what he wasn’t able to, that it would be almost like he was there himself, that he couldn’t imagine ever being prouder of him.

Nikolai was a strong man, but Yuri swore he’d seen him cry for the first time in his life as he waved Yuri goodbye hours before the launch. He’d stood next to the train along with Yuri’s mother—the two of them held up a banner reading ‘Davai Yurachka’ next to a drawing of a cat with an cosmonaut helmet on, embarrassing considering Yuri’s age yet he didn’t care for second and rather felt touched by the gesture—Victor’s family, as well as Leroy’s that counted more people than Yuri’s and Victor’s combined.

There was still a little more than four hours left until they would finally dock on to the ISS, the time still passing much quicker than Yuri imagined it would. Docking itself was a slow process taking up several hours, the final hundred and twenty meters taking more than forty minutes.

It took a lot of precision and concentration, the right entry inclination, moving at the same velocity and altitude as the ISS. They talked to mission control, as well as the people inside the ISS throughout the entire process, minutes slipping by as though in slow motion, Yuri trying his hardest to focus on what truly mattered instead of the fact that he was weightless, that he was in space and that all of it wasn’t just a dream anymore, wasn’t decades away, but truly happening.

Although he was prouder than it seemed logical to wear the suit perfectly tailored for him, keeping him alive and well should anything go south on them, he couldn’t wait to take it off. Months ago during the final fitting Yuri had asked them if maybe they could sew on a leopard or cheetah print patch onto his suit, maybe below the Russian flag, or use it as background for his nametag. He meant it was joke, hoped to make them laugh, yet he merely got stern and judgmental looks that questioned his sanity without using any words at all.

Finally what felt like an eternity later they’d finally made it, the Soyuz was docked securely onto the ISS and they were getting ready to open their way inside. It took them a moment to open all the belts that strapped them in, to get their bodies to cooperate after being stuck in the same position for such a long time, their spacial orientation struggling with the fact that in space there was no more up and down anymore, the laws of gravity not applicable. Yuri just waited for the onset of the space sickness that was bound to come after them during their first day on the ISS, but it was a small price to pay in exchange for being in this place only a select few humans could ever go to.

As the docking port was opened, both hatches removed and put aside enough so they could enter the space station, they floated inside one after the other, the feeling strangely similar to diving underwater yet completely different at the same time.

“It’s JJ style,” Yuri heard JJ say probably louder than necessary, his hands forming two J’s in front of his chest, something Yuri didn’t have to see to know that it was exactly what was happening, the act and words amusing enough to make everyone laugh, except for Yuri who just rolled his eyes and waited for Victor to float through the hatch so he could follow inside last.

Yuri tried his best to keep the giant grin off of his face not wanting his new colleagues to think of him as idiot from the get go, but how was he supposed not to grin with happiness in a moment like this? Slowly he looked over the astronauts who would be his colleagues for the following weeks, ultimately landing on and connecting with a familiar pair of brown eyes he hadn’t seen in almost ten years yet recognized within seconds.

Yuri imagined what the first thing would be he would say aboard the ISS, thought of a million witty sentences and jokes, yet once the moment finally came so many years later, he didn’t say any of it.

“Beka?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, another AU this time set in space. When I got the idea for this slipped into my ask box on tumblr I simply /knew/ I had to make this happen because I /love/ space, one of my favorite books (and movies) of all times is 'The Martian' by Andy Weir (read or watch it is you haven't yet, though if you read it, be prepared for /a lot/ of science) and I practically grew up watching space related documentaries (I was addicted to the science channel).
> 
> I am really excited for this story, the fact that I get to gush about space and challenge Otayuri with something I haven't really seen done yet in the fandom. I hope you'll come along on this ride (which I dearly hope won't end up the way 'Unsteady' did for obvious reasons haha) and enjoy it.
> 
> The title was taken from 'Wait' by M83, which atmospherically fits perfectly with the story. Just their entire album 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming' is a spot on soundtrack for this really.
> 
> So any thoughts? I greatly appreciate every comment and kudos you guys leave me. It truly helps me stay motivated and write more chapters, make them better each time. :)


	2. Chapter 2

“Yura,” he said, his voice so incredibly familiar but also impossibly foreign at the same time. That single word, while coming from Yuri it sounded like realization and surprise, yet coming from Otabek it sounded like nothing more than a simple greeting void of any more meaning than that.

The moment passed in an instant, no more words exchanged between them, instead they moved on to greet the others. Somehow, even though greeting the other three crew members felt pretty relaxed and almost fun, even if Yuri wasn’t the best with people, that brief moment with Otabek had felt strangely awkward in some twisted way, like there were universes filled with unsaid things suddenly surrounding them but neither really knew what to say, or even where to start if they’d want to. Yuri wanted to think more about it, dwell on his past connection to Otabek, wanted to ask him so many things, but he knew that now wasn’t the time. It possibly never would be, because they weren’t on the ISS to bond and rekindle old friendships, but to do science, do what they’d been sent up there to do.

Their expeditions were about so much more than them, all of it was important, contributed to new discoveries and furthering the human knowledge and understanding of space. There was no room for the past up there, only for the present and the future, the years of training and studying coming to fruition and use, dreams coming true and challenges being tackled. At the end of the day, up there all they needed to be was colleagues treating each other with a professional demeanor, didn't need to be the best of friends, and certainly didn’t need to sort out old memories. Maybe one day, should they meet again back on Earth, they’d have time for the past.

Laughter and small talk filled the station as they all mingled for a moment before Giacometti decided that it was time for a tour through the station, despite the fact that Yuri, Leroy and Victor very much knew it already like the backs of their hands thanks to the endless training hours in the station replicas back home, but somehow it still felt exciting and new, so different than before.

Yuri decided to go last, taking the time to really have a look around, appreciate the fact that he truly had made it, and just to breath. He wasn’t sure what he expected the air to smell like, yet somehow he was still surprised by the sterile smell that reminded him of a clean laboratory mixed with traces of machinery, which made sense considering the fact that the ISS was one big machine floating through space at a great velocity.

As they slowly floated through the different modules, some contributions from Russia and others from NASA, as well as the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency, with the other crew members pointing out different details and facts, Yuri’s excitement somehow only grew bigger even though he hadn’t thought it possible. He was still riding on the adrenaline high from their journey in the Soyuz and the simple fact that they were on the ISS.

“And these three are for you to chose from,” Mila said and pointed at three crew cabins sunken into the walls of the module, two on the right and left and one in the floor. In theory every side could be considered the floor, but Yuri based his assumption on the way the station was built on Earth.

“I take that one,” Yuri quickly said pointing at the one on the floor. He wasn’t quite sure why he favored that one, but somehow the idea of, at least in theory, lying down sounded more appealing to him than hanging below the ceiling and sideways off the walls.

Victor and Leroy decided to solve the issue of which one would sleep were with a quick round of rock, paper, scissors, since both of them favored the left side. Yuri rolled his eyes at the display wondering if they really were as old as their documents claimed they were, or if they were just two idiots pretending to be adults. In the end Victor got the cabin on the right and Leroy on the left.

After some more socializing and the other crew members showing them the labs and stations, it was time for the other crew members to return to their work while the three of them could just settle in and then decide what they wanted to do. As far as Yuri could tell, Leroy decided to take a closer look at their assortment of clothes to change out of his suit, while Victor slipped into his cabin to presumably write a message to Yuuri to let him know that he’d made it safely and stuff like that.

Ignoring the fact that, just like Leroy, Yuri would’ve loved to change out of his suit, too, or even go and quickly type a message to grandpa, he had a different priority to attend to first. Turning around he caught Otabek’s eyes across the module for just a moment, their color somehow appearing even darker than before or how Yuri remembered them, but neither said a thing. A heartbeat later Yuri turned away and made his way through the modules toward the copula.

Slowly floating through the space Yuri tried his best not to bump into anything or accidentally grab the wrong thing, familiarize himself with his new temporary home even more than he already did, though the actual zero gravity made everything so much more exciting than it already was. For years he’d laid in bed wondering how it would feel like to be able to fly, to float through space, and now he was doing just that. Nothing slowed him down nor pulled him down or up, he felt weightless in the strangest way possible, and it was just so much more fun than he ever imagined. He would never get tired of it, that much he knew for sure.

Finally the copula entrance came into view and Yuri slowed down so he could safely fly inside. For a moment Yuri felt like he couldn’t breath, like everything just stopped, like nothing was of any actual significance, the feeling of awe and triviality overwhelming him as he floated closer to the windowed copula and Earth came into view. A shiver ran up his spine, the hairs on his arms and his neck standing up, his eyes big and his mouth slightly open. He’d always known that one human life was small and unimportant, just a spec in the grand scheme of everything, yet he’d never felt quite this small.

The view was mesmerizing and so beautiful Yuri could feel tears slowly pool in his eyes, the planet so close yet so far away, so utterly gigantic from this perspective. The reality that they truly weren’t at home anymore, that they rally left their planet, slowly sunk in even though, rationally, Yuri had been aware of that before too, but actually seeing Earth from space made it so much more real.

“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?” Yuri heard someone say but felt himself unable to turn around to see who it was. Feeling as though he’d been caught, he quickly tried to wipe away his tears with his hand. His eyes though were still glued to the window, his mind trying to figure out which continent and country he was looking at but felt himself unable to, a big part of the landmass currently obscured by clouds. “The first time I saw it I also cried. Kazakhstan certainly looks different from up here.”

In the corner of his eye Yuri could see Otabek looking out of the copula next to him, the two of them fitting inside of it just right leaving enough space between them to not touch. Once Otabek was done speaking neither said anything more, Yuri’s mind blank of any sort of response he could have, but really he didn’t mind. All he wanted to do right now was just look outside, watch Earth as they flew by, see the scenery change and watch the approaching sunset.

Otabek seemed to understand Yuri’s silent request for some quiet alone time because not more than two minutes later he slowly backed away and disappeared out of sight.

Slowly as time trickled by he could feel the onset of the space adaptation syndrome making its presence known with nausea and drowsiness, but nothing awful enough to discourage Yuri from having the time of his life. Dealing with this was a small price to pay in exchange for being on the ISS. Sure it was hard to ignore, but fuck it, he didn’t care. He’d get used to it, just like he would get used to how loud it was or that constant alien sterile smell and the fact that he couldn’t sit down or walk anymore.

By the time Yuri finally decided to leave the copula they’d orbited around Earth twice, meaning that somehow he managed to spend at least three hours just looking out of the window. He hadn’t planned to stay there for so long, but time somehow stopped having any sort of meaning and he didn’t even realize so much of it had passed. Quickly he went to search for a change of clothes, ate his first small dinner, though he wasn’t particularly hungry—it tasted surprisingly good, despite coming out of a tightly sealed foil package—and then went to wash his teeth and use the toilet for the first time in space.

The latter was certainly stranger than the former, but offered its own strange ting of excitement and nerves. It was a bit more complicated than on Earth, the suction feeling strange but not unpleasant, and the assortment of toilet paper strangely extensive which made Yuri chuckle ever so slightly. He rather didn’t want to think about how the very water he’d used moments prior, and would use throughout his stay, was partially made up of the crew’s collective urine, a large percentage of it cleaned and recycled. The water was mostly tasteless, at least as long as Yuri didn’t remember that fact, again.

Ready for bed, or whatever was considered that on the ISS, Yuri made his way to his tiny cabin. The thing wasn’t bigger, or in fact maybe even a tiny bit smaller, than a phone booth and held a sleeping bag, as well as a lamp and a laptop, secured to the wall so it wouldn’t fly away. Carefully Yuri dove into his cabin and maneuvered himself into his sleeping bag, tightly securing himself in with the various straps that were supposed to make sure he wouldn’t float away and get hurt somehow, or cause any damage to the station. Looking up and out of his cabin he caught a glimpse of the person maneuvering himself into the cabin opposite to him. For a second Yuri thought it was JJ, judging purely based on the haircut, but quickly realized that it was Otabek instead.

Before he could get caught, again, Yuri averted his eyes back to his sleeping bag and zipped it close further. Then, once he sufficiently felt like a space burrito, he slipped his sleeping mask onto his eyes and his ear plus in to block out the sounds and the light.

Sitting in the copula you could watch sixteen sunsets and sunrises, a mesmerizing but also truly crazy fact Yuri still sometimes struggled with wrapping his mind around. That of course meant that there was no night and day cycle on the ISS the way it was on Earth, instead everyone worked on a set time schedule, had allotted times for sleeping and working, free time and physical activities set throughout the day for maximum efficiency.

At this point Yuri wasn’t even sure anymore what time it was or how long he’d already been awake, his body slowly crashing and yearning for sleep. They had to wake up long before sunrise to get to the launching pad, to say goodbye to their families and get ready for takeoff. The crazy amounts of adrenaline that circulated through his body for most of his waking hours had by now faded away completely and left behind nothing but exhaustion, the still much too present feeling of nausea churning his stomach no matter how lightly, and a bit of drowsiness, things he hoped would fix themselves by the time he’d wake up.

Slowly Yuri’s mind began to drift toward sleep but somewhere along the way he thought of everything that happened that day instead, and of his supremely awkward greeting with Otabek, and all the other moments and looks they’d shared. It wasn’t like Yuri hadn’t known who was at the ISS before they’d entered it, quite the opposite actually. He’d seen the name list plenty of times before.

Yuri knew that Christophe Giacometti was on board for Switzerland and the ESA, that he was plenty years older than Yuri, and that he was up here for the second time, on old friend of Victor’s at that. He still remembered Mila Babicheva from different trainings in both Russia and Houston where they’d become something like friends over time. Yuri enjoyed working with her, was glad that they would share a portion of his time up in space, and he knew that she was something like the ISS on board doctor right now since she was the only one with a proper doctor title in medicine, while the rest of them just received the basic training they needed to survive most things. Leo de la Iglesia was the only American currently on the ISS, a rare moment when the number of Russians was greater than that of the Americans, though they hadn’t met before today.

Of course Yuri had seen the name ‘Otabek Altin’ on the list, knew he was some ultra smart guy from Kazakhstan thanks to the information’s they’d received from their superiors and supervisors, yet somehow it had taken actually seeing him, and hearing him speak, for Yuri to make the connection.

Thinking about all of it took him way back so many years.

After graduating high school with perfect grades, full points in every subject, Yuri’s ticket to university had come in form of numerous scholarships and universities basically throwing their acceptance letters at him like he was some sort of promised genius out of a prophecy they’d all been waiting for. While other students partied and got drunk, hooked up and lived their (supposedly) best lives, Yuri spent most of his time hidden away in the library studying or at the sports facility. He didn’t have time for trivial bullshit.

The only friend he made during his countless years at university, and there were more of them than Yuri was sometimes willing to admit even to himself, was one Otabek Altin. He was a walking contradiction, the oddest mixture of a nerd with glasses, pretty monochrome cardigans and wrinkle free button up shirts, along with a fuckboy haircut, the sickest motorcycle Yuri had ever seen and leather jacks that made him look like he belonged to some biker gang. He was a year ahead of Yuri and finished his time at their university with degrees in biological and physical science like it was nothing, just a walk in the park. Both of them had the same goal, make it into space one day.

“One day we’ll do it together, be on the same crew going on an expedition to a faraway planet or the ISS,” Otabek said during their last evening together. It’d been a cold one, the wind blowing around them, Yuri’s hair turning into more of a mess the longer they stood outside his dorm building. The area was completely empty though illuminated by a couple streetlamps, the sky dotted with a million stars, but the only thing Yuri was really paying attention to was the person standing in front of him, the way Otabek’s glasses kept on slipping off of his nose and his hair was lightly and artfully disheveled.

“Promise?” Yuri asked looking and sounding hopeful. He’d never had a friend like Otabek before, never really had any person outside his family that meant so much to him and he wished to hold on to, so knowing that Otabek was about to leave had made Yuri’s heart heavy in his chest, his eyes lightly glossy though he’d refused to cry.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” It sounded so beyond genuine, the most heartfelt promise anyone had ever made, especially to Yuri, so he believed it without a second thought. Otabek had pulled him into a hug then, tight and warm, feeling safe and making Yuri’s heart beat only so much harder than it already had. He never wanted to let go, didn’t want to watch his friend leave, spend the next year hanging around the campus without him, but he didn’t have another choice. “One day very soon we will meet again, Yura, you’ll see.”

It wasn’t until they were in space a decade later that he made good on his promise, purely coincidentally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we are, a bit of the Otabek and Yuri backstory. Somehow that scene turned out a bit sadder than I originally intended for it, hah. I wonder what might've happened after Otabek moved away and generally in those ten years they didn't see each other. Anyone have a wild guess? Either way, the next chapter will be a bit funnier, I think, but hopefully I can still find a few fun facts I can sprinkle in hah ;)
> 
> Also that urine fact is, unfortunately, true. I didn't make that up. 
> 
> So any thoughts? I greatly appreciate every comment and kudos you guys leave me. It truly helps me stay motivated and write more chapters, make them better each time. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Yuri had never been quite this excited for his first day of work as he was right now. It wasn’t anything too exciting or special, not really, not quite like his main task he would get to focus on once this one was done, but it was thrilling nonetheless. Setting up his station at one of the free workbenches, this one conveniently close to his cabin, Yuri pulled out all the tools he needed and tried his best to remember that he couldn’t just put them anywhere on the table mindlessly. Unlike on Earth his screwdriver wouldn’t just stay put. Luckily most tools either had Velcro or tape stuck to them that secured them into place along the top of his workbench, and a few other patches across it.

The task at hand was pretty simple: put together the few pieces that were needed so Victor and Leroy could go outside for their EVAs and connect the new, relatively small, lab extension piece the CSA had constructed and sent up here with the last SpaceX supply transfer. It was the first bigger contribution coming from them since the Canadarm2 and Dextre, still much smaller and less significant than those, though important nonetheless. Yuri’s task was certainly much easier than Victor and Leroy’s, even more so because he didn’t have to wear the bulky spacesuit gloves while handling the small pieces and tools, yet he still envied them, despite the fact that his stay and main task included an EVA, too.

Immersing himself in his work Yuri lost track of time, the hours passing surprisingly quickly, and he’d only considered taking a break once his stomach started to growl. After putting everything away neatly, Yuri floated toward the ‘kitchen’ in Node 1 to figure out what he wanted to eat. He still remembered floating through the Russian part of the ISS and seeing the red food compartments in the storage units. Yuri couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that Roscosmos saw the need to make them red instead of the standard light gray used by everyone else for food supplies. Borscht in space did sound adventurous, and certainly like something he never thought he would actually be able to say he’d done, but today didn’t feel like a borscht kind of day.

Every astronaut and cosmonaut was allowed to have at least one of their favorite foods sent up to the ISS from their families. He’d seen Leo scratch out the last remains of Fluff from his jar the previous day, Mila eat some Russian chocolate as she worked, and Giacometti complaining about his fiancé, Adam, sending him the wrong type of fruit snack bar. Yuri on the other hand felt quite special since he actually managed to talk them into figuring out a way to send him a small portion of his grandpa’s pirozhki that he could eat to celebrate after his EVA.

Instead of anything special Yuri pulled out some noodle type dish packet from their supply and slipped it into the food warmer smiling at the ‘fridge art’ stuck to it. During their intro tour Giacometti explained that the art came from the kids of the people working at ground control and was changed every week. As much as Yuri didn’t like kids, this tradition was kind of cute, even if the art was relatively shitty.

With his food in hand Yuri moved over between Leroy and Leo who were on opposite ends of the table playing cards. Said table wasn’t much more than a tabletop secured at a downward angle from the wall that they usually just used to prepare their food and not to actually eat on. Lots of their cards just floated around between them making it look like some CGI card trick Yuri remembered from ‘ _Now You See Me_ ’ or other similar movies. Leroy laughed triumphantly as he put ‘down’ a Queen and King, but a second later his big smile melted off of his face as Leo silently turned his cards toward him, grin on his face.

“You’ll never win against Leo,” Giacometti said, amused, as he floated into the area from the US lab to fetch himself a small snack. “Been trying for over a week and the kid played me ever time. I’m pretty sure he’s cheating but I didn’t figure out how quite yet.”

“You just say that because you’re bad at it and you know it,” Leo said and shuffled the cards.

“One more round, this time I’ll beat you, JJ style,” Leroy announced, his hands forming those annoying J’s. Hearing the mild frustration in his voice, Yuri wondered how many rounds exactly those two had already played.

While Leo put down the cards, Giacometti moved over to the nearest laptop to put on some music. Yuri expected him to put on some kind of epic battle showdown music, but then again, looking at how goofy and chill Giacometti was most of the time, he should’ve known better even after knowing him only for a little while and by the little stories Victor had told him. Yuri laughed a little at the [lighthearted melody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHl9qRsMzw) that filled the station around them while Leo and Leroy started their round.

At some point Mila joined their circle, the only two missing being Victor and Otabek, while Leo and Leroy tried to put on their best poker faces. From where he was Yuri couldn’t look into either of their cards, though Giacometti, who floated behind Leo, gave him a look that was probably supposed to mean that Leo’s cards were good, again. Yuri wanted to tell Mila to go behind Leroy to check his cards, but before he could, Leroy started to laugh as Leo revealed the last card, trying his best to make them stay put instead of just float away like the rest of them.

“This time you’re going down, America, because there’s a new king in town,” Leroy said and turned his cards so everyone could see them. They were good, Yuri knew as much, even though his knowledge of card games was rather limited.

“The king of losers,” Leo countered revealing his own cards, a far better hand than Leroy’s. Giacometti started laughing while Mila tried not to smile though lightly shaking her head.

“From today JJ Style is synonymous for ‘loser style’,” Yuri said quietly, more to himself, but apparently loudly enough for both Leroy and Leo to hear him. The former glared at him while the latter joined into Giacometti’s laughter.

“Told you, you stand no chance, kid,” Giacometti said once he finally stopped laughing long enough to form coherent words.

“Oh fuck off, mate,” Leroy said sounding as much of a sore loser as he looked, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his face the perfect picture of annoyance. It seemed like he wasn’t used to losing, which only made Yuri smile more.

After that little fun break Yuri went back to work for a little longer wanting to get the task done and ready for tomorrow, before moving over to the US lab for the first half of his allotted ‘physical activity’ time. Riding a bike in space was definitely different than back on Earth, the fact that he only had to strap his feet into the pedals and then was ready to go, no seat or anything needed. The bike itself was secured to a square metal frame loosely chained to the wall behind it. That of course meant that the entire thing was bouncing around as Yuri paddled away, but he knew that it couldn’t be fixed to the wall completely. Putting extra forces onto the station, even if only just that little bit from the bike, could be enough to disturb the solar arrays and the station itself, which was a very bad idea and could lead to major problems and had to be avoided at all cost.

Listening to his music, one of the very few things Yuri had the chance of taking with him to the ISS, the one and a half hours on the bike went by relatively quickly, the sound of the ISS and everything slipping into the back of his mind. Otabek floated into the module just as Yuri undid the straps and got off of the bike.

He wordlessly waved at him as greeting and then put in his own headphones and took Yuri’s place on the bike while Yuri left to float over to Node 3 so he could use his remaining thirty minutes to run on the treadmill. As he ran strapped to the treadmill with a harness on and everything, Yuri wondered if after all the awkwardness from the previous day Otabek had finally given up on trying to rekindle any sort of communication with him. That question in and of itself left Yuri conflicted and torn between being okay with it, and kind of hating it, though really he should be used to not talking after their almost decade long silence.

“Hey, Yuri, come and have a look at this,” Mila said later that day just as Yuri was done brushing his teeth. Looking around he found her head seemingly sticking out of the floor, the cupola below her. It was the first time Yuri saw Mila with her hair open since she usually wore it in a ponytail or a bun. She had the longest hair of anyone on board, the red tresses surrounding her head like some kind of bloody halo or glow.

“This better be good, hag,” he said using the nickname he’d given her a long time ago, which she wasn’t fond of but had long given up on trying to get him to drop it. After putting his toothbrush away, Yuri floated into the cupola together with her trying to see what she deemed so important for him to see.

“Right over there,” she said, her finger lightly tapping against the window slightly to Yuri’s right. Yuri followed the motion with his eyes and then tried to figure out what exactly she was pointing out, his eyes widening once he saw it.

Aurora Borealis, or more commonly known as northern lights, looked amazingly from Earth, or at least so Yuri had been told, yet from space it was a whole different experience all together. Seemingly magical lines and wisps of green danced across the sky above what Yuri presumed was Scandinavia, the sky around it dark with just a couple fluffy clouds, a few lights dotting the land below, bigger cities shining bright and smaller ones faint but still enough for them to see.

It was beautiful, unlike anything Yuri had ever seen before, as breathtaking as seeing a thunderstorm or cloudless moments but different, even more unreal than everything else. Once his mind kicked in enough for him to think of anything but those brilliant lights, Yuri turned to grab one of the few cameras secured to the walls around them, turned it on and pointed it at the lights below them.

“I did exactly the same when I saw them for the first time,” Mila said lightly laughing, a smile on her face. “See I remember you saying you wanted to see those. I’m not that bad of a hag after all, eh?”

“No.” Yuri faux dramatically rolled his eyes earning him a light playful shove from Mila. “Thanks, Mila,” he added after a while breaking the comfortable silence around them, his words barely more than a whisper.

 

* * *

 

Quietly Yuri watched as Giacometti and Leo helped Victor and Leroy into their EMU spacesuits, a task that definitely took at least two people and quite a bit of time, concentration and caution. Slowly they clicked all the pieces into place, the pants to the main torso part, the arms and finally the helmets. Maneuvering them around carefully, Giacometti and Leo stuffed them into the airlock along with the part that Yuri had constructed the previous day and then closed the hatch after a final thumbs up from Victor and Leroy.

It would take a while for the airlock to do its work, depressurize the chamber so they could safely open the outer hatch with Mila’s help on one of the laptops, headset on and calmly talking to them. Yuri used that time to float over back into the cupola to at least watch them from afar for a little while before he would have to get to work on his main task.

Looking out at the two slowly floating through open fucking space along the ISS, Yuri rather didn’t want to think about the fact this EVA and its success relied on Yuri having done his work properly. But after all these years, Yuri was more than sure that he’d done it perfectly and that their work would go smoothly, except, of course, if Leroy would do it _JJ Style_ , then Yuri didn’t see any success in their future.

Seeing the two of them, their crisp white suits against the pitch black backdrop of the universe was insane, something he’d so far only ever seen in videos and simulations. Yuri couldn’t wait to be in their place, even if he’d only get one EVA instead of the two that Victor got this time around. At least Leroy also only got one. The next day, to finalize the construction, Victor went outside again along with Giacomettii, who thus went on the second EVA of his career, while Victor on his third and final. As far as Yuri knew Victor planned on ending his career once he’d return to Earth in a few days.

Victor’s retirement of course meant that for the time being Yuri would share the title of star of Roscosmos along with Mila while they were on board the ISS. Of course none of this was a competition, Yuri’s expedition not any more or less important than Mila’s so Yuri didn’t really care much about that title or anything. He just wanted to live in the moment, enjoy the time he would spend on the ISS and all the results and payload they would get from them.

At the end of the day how many people could say that they’d done chemical experiments in fucking space?

“Fourteen hours and fifty eight minutes, what do you say to that Leroy?” Victor said during their collective dinner after Victor and Giacometti completed their EVA. “That’s almost five more minutes than your darling Hadfield.”

“He’s still been a better astronaut than you, Nikiforov,” Leroy said without looking away from the laptop screen showing some movie Mila said they all had to see together because it was apparently amazing to something.

“Maybe a better astronaut, but certainly not a better cosmonaut,” Yuri said and high fived Victor while Giacometti chuckled and Leroy rolled his eyes. Why Yuri was suddenly playing on Victor’s side wasn’t quite clear to him, but in a way they probably should be a team, right, the two of them and Mila being here for Roscosmos and all.

“Babicheva, do you really think a movie like ‘The Martian’ is the right thing to watch while we are literally in space?” Leo asked to change the topic it seemed.

“What? It’s a great movie, well if you ignore all the shit that isn’t scientifically accurate. Plus I thought out chemistry boys would appreciate it.”

“It’s more botany than chemistry, but I can certainly appreciate looking at Matt Damon,” Giacometti said and raised one of his brows.

“What would Adam say if he heard this?” Victor said fake scandalized trying his best not to laugh.

“He would agree without a moment of hesitation.” That answer made almost all of them laugh or at least chuckle, even Otabek Yuri noticed. He was the only one who hadn’t really said anything yet that evening, not that Yuri noticed or wondered why or anything.

As the movie continued they found themselves discussing different aspects of the movie, the medical side coming with a long discussion between Mila and, well, Mila, the chemistry one between Yuri and Giacometti, a bit of mathematics between Victor, Yuri and Leo, and biology and physics between Otabek and Leroy. The whole ‘fly like Iron Man’ part made all of them laugh at how utterly ridiculous it was though they could appreciate the comedic aspect of it.

Once the movie ended the discussion somehow moved over to other space movies like ‘Apollo 13’, ‘Moon’ or ‘Sunshine’, and finally ended on ‘Armageddon’, which they agreed was ridiculous, especially the part of turning miners or drillers or whatever into astronauts instead of teaching astronauts how to drill. Complete bullshit, but at least that Aerosmith song was dope.

 

* * *

 

The first week on the ISS passed surprisingly quickly, a routine establishing itself seamlessly, Yuri, Leroy and Victor turning into part of the crew as though they’d always been there. Yuri fell in love with his station in the JEM, the Japanese lab, and enjoyed playing and experimenting with the Spheres a little too much, as well as using some other pieces of equipment for his experiments.

Since the JEM also housed the fluid physics facility, among other things, Yuri occasionally shared the space with Otabek as he worked on his own experiments. They never really talked much, nothing beyond simple small talk, working through instructions when NASA requested they’d set up some experiment that’d be conducted from Earth, and in their breaks played with the Shapers together musing about how fun it would be once the Spheres would be able to move freely through the entire station and not just a small portion of the JEM.

On day eight it was time for Victor, Leroy and Giacometti to wrap up their experiments, say goodbye to the station and return back to Earth. Staying behind with the others, Yuri watched as they changed back into the suits they’d worn when they’d come up to the ISS and then said goodbye to everyone. It was a strange feeling to not go back with his crew in a way, especially since it was a rather untypical thing, but Yuri didn’t mind since it meant he could stay in space. Leroy had been a bit grumpy at first when he’d found out that his expedition would be so relatively short, but in the end he’d realized that his sorry ass should be thankful that he got to go at all.

“You’ll behave, won’t you, Yuratchka, even though I can’t keep an eye on you?” Victor asked and lightly bumped Yuri’s shoulder with his own. Yuri just groaned and rolled his eyes. Victor was absurd sometimes. It wasn’t like Yuri was fifteen and needed adult supervision or something, he was as much an adult as Victor, or any of the other crew members.

“Don’t give yourself too much credit or think I’ll miss you or anything,” Yuri said trying to sound dismissive but, despite everything, couldn’t keep the small smile off of his face. The truth was he would miss Victor. They’d spent so much time training and working together that, even if he was annoying as all hell more often than not, it would still be odd without him. At least he still had Mila, and Otabek for whatever that was worth.

“Good luck with your experiments. And I’ll see you once you’ll come back, you’re still invited for dinner, don’t forget that.”

“I won’t but chances are you will.” It wouldn’t have been the first time Victor would forget things, though dinner at their place didn’t sound so bad. Judging by some of the food Yuri had gotten to try that Victor had brought to the trainings, cooked by Yuuri, he wouldn’t say no to that part of dinner. Hanging out with their kids, not something he looked forward to, or their overly active dog. “Safe flight back to Earth.”

“It’s more crashing than flying,” Giacometti commented appearing next to Victor with a smile on his face, the red and white flag on his sleeve somehow seeming way more prominent than the Russian or Canadian one.

After all the goodbyes were done Victor, Leroy and Giacometti climbed back into the Soyuz they’d come up in and then closed their hatch while Yuri and Leo closed the hatch on the ISS side. Mila, who now that Giacometti was gone was the commander of the ISS, was talking to ground and mission control as well as the Soyuz to make sure the undocking and everything would go as planned.

Once the undocking was done it would take about three and a half hours until the Soyuz would hopefully safely land back in the grassy plains of Kazakhstan where the crew would get picked up and everything would be great. All of them knew that there were quite a few things that could go various degrees of wrong during all of it, but the astronauts and cosmonauts they’d talked to during their training had mostly said that the flight back was way more fun and exciting than the flight to the ISS. Yuri wasn’t quite sure how that could be possible since space as destination seemed more interesting than Earth, even if he missed mama and grandpa a lot.

Two days after the Soyuz left, Yuri received an email from Victor letting him know that he’d safely arrived back home and was sending him positive vibes and well wishes for his experiments. Yuri wasn’t quite sure why Victor felt the need to be quite this friendly with him, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. The email also contained a small bit written by Yuuri talking about how he was thanking Yuri for keeping an eye on his husband and getting him safely back home, as though Yuri had anything to do with that. He still smiled like an idiot because it. How often can you say that you got a thank you message someone like Katsuki, one of your idols no less?

Despite the crew having shrunken down to Yuri, Mila, Leo and Otabek, their routines weren’t affected much, though the ISS seemed somehow more spacious now, which was silly since the size hadn’t changed or anything. Also now Yuri and Otabek were the only ones who slept in that part of the ISS. Sometimes before going to sleep or in the morning when getting up they exchanged a few smiles, but conversations remained at a trivial small talk level during working hours and break times.

Hanging out with Mila Yuri found out that she’d somehow gotten a girlfriend in the time when they hadn’t seen each other, some Italian girl working for the ESA. Apparently they’d met during Mila’s break during a training session where Sara accidentally walked into her and spilled her coffee all over Mila’s shirt. It sounded somehow cliché and made up, which Yuri told Mila earning him an annoyed groan from her.

“At least I have a relationship unlike some people,” Mila retorted and gave him a pointed look. Yuri quickly brushed off her comment certainly not wanting to talk about that, at least not when it came to his love life. Too personal.

Everything was going great, until day ten since the others left. The morning started with Leo being in a bad mood claiming he had a stomachache. Mila offered to have a look or give him something to help, which Leo refused saying that it wasn’t anything he couldn’t deal with. With every hour Leo got worse and worse until Mila was done watching and hearing him make pained noises and dragged him off to the medical station to have a look.

Mission control certainly wasn’t happy, rather very concerned, when they heard about any of this happening, and even less when Mila declared Leo’s ‘stomachache’ a Class III issue, more specifically acute appendicitis. Why no one bothered to worry about that before Leo was selected to come up here was a mystery to Yuri, since he’d gotten his cut out when he was like ten and Mila at sixteen.

“According to the rules, Otabek and I have to go with Leo,” Mila said once mission control decided that Leo needed to be evacuated back to Earth to get surgery.

“I’ll stay,” Otabek said, his tone final and leaving no room for discussion. “Yuri can’t stay behind alone.

“Excuse you, I don’t need anyone to look after me, I can stay alone, that’s not an issue,” Yuri argued glaring at Otabek. Now he was interested in what was best for him? Now he worried about Yuri’s wellbeing? Where was he the past damn decade?

“We agree with astronaut Altin,” someone from mission control interjected before Yuri could say anything more. “Cosmonaut Babicheva has to go with Astronaut de la Iglesia to assure his health during the travel. Cosmonaut Plisetsky cannot stay alone on the ISS therefore astronaut Altin has to stay with him. This is not up to discussion.”

Yuri felt the words burning on his tongue, arguments that would probably run nowhere that he didn’t need Otabek with him, but he was to listen to mission control and the commander. The entire situation was absurd and unfortunate, and shouldn’t really happen since the entire crew should always go back and at least three people should be on the ISS, but Leo’s health was the top priority right then.

Without any more discussions Mila helped Leo change while Yuri and Otabek went to the second Soyuz, the emergency one, to start the preparation process for the return. Yuri could see the sadness on Leo’s face, mixed with the pain he still felt despite Mila having given him some light painkillers. His expedition was supposed to last a few more weeks but was unfortunately cut short. Yuri rather didn’t want to imagine how he would feel like if it were him in Leo’s place, if some stupid health issue would sabotage his mission.

Carefully and slowly Yuri helped Mila get Leo into the Soyuz and strapped down into his seat, none of it looking pleasant in any sort of way considering how cramped the Soyuz was.

“Take care of each other, boys,” Mila said, a sad smile on her face. Her expedition wasn’t supposed to end yet either, the fact that she’d only gotten to enjoy the commander title for just over a week, but she had no choice despite how unfortunate it was. Maybe just like Victor and Giacometti she would get another chance to come up to the ISS one day.

It wasn’t until Yuri and Otabek had their headsets on and listened to mission and ground control talking them through the undocking process that the entirety of the situation truly hit Yuri, what all of it meant for them, the implications and issues that came with it, not to forget the fact that he was now completely alone on the ISS with Otabek of all people. That in an of itself was a fact Yuri wasn’t quite sure what to make off and how they would get along, but thinking about that was easier than considering all the other things that could happen, dangers and situations, issues, illnesses, accidents, a whole plethora of awful. Thankfully they’d been trained how to handle any panic inducing situations and how to keep a calm mind at all times.

“We’ll be okay,” Otabek said at some point, his eyes glued to the laptop in front of them, his voice calm and warm, less curt and flat than during most of their previous conversations.

“Of course we will be,” Yuri said and huffed annoyed. Why wouldn’t they be supposed to be okay? With the help of NASA, ESA and Roscosmos they were able to handle basically any issue, really, so Yuri was at least trying to feel okay with everything, somehow.

“The Soyuz has successfully landed,” someone from mission control said hours later, both Otabek and Yuri letting out a sigh of relief at those words. “Both astronauts are being retrieved as we speak and astronaut de la Iglesia will receive medical attention immediately. This means that now is the time when we–.”

And suddenly the line turned completely silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops? I'm sorry for hurting Leo, and I'm totally cheating my way through the whole situation since usually two crews of three are on the ISS and not two crews of three and an extra person, at least as far as I'm aware. But I hope you can forgive me for slipping my way through this, since everything else follows the rules and actual science as much as possible. ;)
> 
> Originally I wanted to have Victor, JJ and Chris install the 'Nauka', a new Russian module that is supposed to replace a current one, but since I don't know and couldn't really find any info on how module exchanges are done I made up that lab extension. 
> 
> Hadfield, mentioned by Victor, is Chris Hadfield, a former Canadian astronaut who completed two EVAs and installed the Canadarm2 as well as, among many many other things, starred in the 'Space Oddity' tribute video recorded on the ISS after David Bowie passed away.
> 
> Okay, now all the words and things that might need explaining:  
>  _ESA_ \- European Space Agency  
>  _CSA_ \- Canadian Space Agency  
>  _EVA_ \- Extravehicular Activity - space walk  
>  _EMU_ \- Extravehicular Mobility Unit - essentially that big white space suit (and especially the big 'backpack' on their backs) they wear outside and that's depicted on all those astronaut pictures. Russian cosmonauts (I think) either wear the EMUs or the Orlan Space Suits, more specifically the Orlan-MKS model since 2017.  
>  _Spheres_ \- Two different colored freely floating cubes that are being trained to map out the station and be able to perform tasks though so far (I think) they only move on a specifically assigned part of the JEM since it's the only part that's equipped with some special antennas or something to help them navigate.  
>  _Node_ \- joint parts of the ISS that usually connect two or more modules or have hatches and airlocks that lead outside.  
>  If anything else was unclear when it comes to the science stuff, just as and I'll try to explain it :)
> 
> And yes, of course I had to find a way to somehow mention 'The Martian'. What can I say, I love that movie. 
> 
> So any thoughts? I greatly appreciate every comment and kudos you guys leave me. It truly helps me stay motivated and write more chapters, make them better each time. :)


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